


Downpour

by krowjo



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Character Death, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Love Triangles, M/M, Original Character(s), Save Me, Time Loop, this fic was a mistake, what the heck am i doing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-12
Updated: 2018-09-12
Packaged: 2019-07-11 08:50:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15968912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/krowjo/pseuds/krowjo
Summary: Akira's life sucked after the incident. From getting dumped into a new school to having to basically start all over, everything sucked. Or so it seemed, at least; something about everything seemed so... easy. He knew so many things about the people and what they acted like, and knew his way around the city like the back of his hand. Yet something felt... off. Akira made it his mission to figure out what was causing this feeling... even if it meant hurting others along the way.SUPER off canon, completely alternate universe. Lots of angst and a bit of death, be warned.





	Downpour

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!! I don't have much to say except this is my first fic!! It won't be perfect but I'm still proud, please tell me your thoughts!

A brooding young boy flinched as a droplet of water splattered onto the very tip of his nose, spraying a bit onto his glasses and shielding his vision temporarily-- oh well, not like he really needed them. He fished around in the pocket of his flashy uniform pants for a few seconds before pulling out a small red umbrella, putting it up and wiping the rain off of his face. It was a boringly bleak day for a bleak, brooding boy.

Well, no, scratch that. Akira Kurusu was anything but bleak. No, it was his life, his past and probably his future which were all bleak. Desolate, even. More empty and unpromising than the prospects of farming in the Sahara desert. But it was most certainly not HIS fault that his life had succumbed to this. No, it was that disgusting politician.

Hm, perhaps that's too broad of a description; all politicians were disgusting in Japan these days.

That was besides the point. Akira himself was a very interesting and promising kid, as far as he knew and his parents (used to) tell him. He got stellar test scores despite having average grades, he was very socially adept, and although he had a fair amount of money to his name he never really acted spoiled; he was quite humble for a rich teenager. The kids at his old school liked him, he’d had a boyfriend who gave him nothing but love, and he’d been a great vice president to the debate club.

But all of that was gone now. In one fell swoop-- more like push, that is-- everything Akira had worked so hard to maintain slowly crumbled before him. He was quickly expelled, though that much was predictable with a criminal background to his name, and even though it stung, it didn’t cut too deep. What was NOT predictable was the abandonment he experienced; his friends all shunned him practically the second he exited the courthouse, his boyfriend tore his heart from his chest and ate it like it was a midnight snack, and his parents threw both him and his belongings out the door with less than a week’s warning.

It sucked. There are surely bigger and more grand words to describe it, but it was all the curly haired boy could think as he walked to school, rain hammering hard at his dollar store umbrella. His old friends sucked, his ex boyfriend sucked, and his parents sucked most of all. Even though it had been a month since then and he’d had plenty of time to adjust to living in some grumpy man’s attic and going to a school where everyone tiptoed around him like he was some sort of ghost, it still gave him a bitter taste in his mouth to even think about it.

Of course, it didn’t help that every other step Akira took was into an ankle deep puddle and the feeling of wet sock clinging to his ankles was a bit less than pleasant. 

“Akira-kuuuuun!” A sing-songy female voice suddenly startled the pale teenager out of his thoughts, and he looked around to find this rare source of joy in Rainy Morning Japan. However, a pair of arms quickly linking themselves around his free arm gave him the answer he needed without even needing to see who the arms belonged to, and he smiled.

“Good morning, Ann-chan,” Akira greeted fondly, looking down at the twin tailed girl who was currently smiling brightly enough to abolish every storm cloud in the sky. “It’s rare to see you this early in the morning. Is there an exam that nobody told me about?”

“Ha ha ha,” Ann droned, rolling her eyes to emphasize her irritation. “I read the weather report last night and figured that you either wouldn’t have an umbrella, or you’d have a really flimsy one. So...” She released Akira’s arm and pulled a striped pink umbrella from her bag, holding it up with a proud glint in her eyes. “I brought one!”

Akira chuckled, running a hand through his curly locks. “Well I hate to disappoint, but my umbrella is working just fine.” He pointed up at the cheap red nylon. 

“Oh, is it now?” Ann asked doubtfully, narrowing her eyes.

The taller boy narrowed his eyes back, a playful smirk backing him up. “Yes, it is.”

But alas, as if on cue, the downpour picked up tremendously, and the raindrops were more like rocks than water falling from the sky. Fearing the worst but expecting the best, Akira looked hopefully up at his umbrella. “She’ll hold up…” he muttered, more to himself than to Ann, who was putting up her own umbrella as quickly as she could manage. “You won’t even need that, Ann-chan. Look, my umbrella works just--”

Snap.

One of the arms holding the umbrella up snapped, and before the black haired boy had any chance to react, all of the rain that his umbrella had been trying its hardest to protect him from came pouring down all at once, drenching his face and soaking him thoroughly from the shoulders up. His blonde friend let out a small series of giggles before breaking out into a fit of laughter as she stood protected under her working umbrella. Akira released a sigh, shaking his head and shoving his broken umbrella back into his pocket before crouching under Ann’s.

“Say one word of this to Ryuji-kun and I promise that you will never see this umbrella again,” he threatened, only half joking as he took the umbrella from Ann to hold it higher while they both resumed the trek to school.

Ann managed to contain her laughter, nudging her friend gently. “C’mon, you know I like you more than that dummy. I’d never rat you out.”

The curly haired boy smiled softly, giving Ann a grateful pat on the shoulder as he looked around. The rain had slowed to a sprinkle by now-- figures. “Come to think of it, where is our little delinquent-that-isn’t-actually-a-delinquent? Doesn’t he usually meet up with you before school?”

Akira watched as Ann let out a clearly distasteful sigh, and chuckled at her pouting face. Everyone at Shujin knew that Ann and Ryuji had been friends since middle school, as they were notorious for their arguments even then. However, they had fallen a bit out of touch once they got to high school, as Ryuji had seemed constantly angry and Ann was just… distant. They both had their reasons and their own private situations, but they seemed pretty alone upon first glance. It wasn’t until Akira had transferred to Shujin and befriended them both that they seemed to reconnect both on an emotional and friendly level. As for how the three managed to become such a tight trio, well… that was a bit complicated.

“I waited outside that idiot’s house for fifteen minutes,” Ann began to rant. “Fifteen minutes, Akira-kun! Do you have any idea what standing in the rain for fifteen minutes does to a girl’s hair?”

“I can’t imagine anything good,” Akira placated absentmindedly as he shoved his free hand into his pants pocket.

“Exactly!” His friend threw her arms up impatiently as her voice began to slowly increase in volume. “So I called him, and texted him, then called again, then spammed his inbox, then called him AGAIN-- I even knocked on his door and asked his mother where he was! ‘Oh, he’s still asleep, dear,’ is all she has to say!” She tossed one of her blonde twintails over her shoulder, defiantly putting her hands on her hips as she took a deep breath. “So I stormed off and decided he can walk to school in the rain all by himself if he wants. He’s not my responsibility.”

Akira remained silent and thought on this for a brief moment. Ryuji was pretty foolish, and he often didn’t take school very seriously, but very rarely was he ever outright late. He gently grabbed his chin in thought. Could it be that Ryuji was upset about something? Because if he was, there was surely no chance he would ever come to Akira or Ann about it. Perhaps he was sick? After all, it had been raining pretty heavily for a couple days in a row.

But then, of course, he’d only known Ryuji for a month. It wasn’t like he had any reason to assume such things about a boy he barely knew. Truthfully, he was probably more concerned about not having one of his only friends at school that day. 

“Helloooo? Hey, Earth to Akira!” Ann waved a hand in front of the thoughtful teenager’s face, snapping him back to reality. “Jeez, when you get lost in thought you aren’t messing around. Need me to make you a map?”

Akira snorted. Despite her grades and test scores, Ann was actually pretty smart, and had some witty comebacks to prove it. But nobody was better at witty comebacks than the joker himself was. “I was just thinking that you rant about Ryuji-kun the same way a housewife rants about her lazy husband,” he chided, nudging the blushing beauty with his elbow a couple times.

“H-hey!” she hollered, snatching the umbrella from her companion, who was quickly drenched as (yet again on cue) the rain turned to downpour. “I don’t wanna hear it from you! You’ve been getting cozy with little miss student body president since the day you transferred here!” She booped his nose, getting a rain droplet stuck to the bridge of his glasses. Now it was Akira’s turn to snatch the umbrella, watching bemusedly as Ann worked quickly to pull her hood up to at least save her precious hair. “Hey!!” she shrieked, working to snatch it back only for it to be held up high by the taller boy. She crossed her arms, kicking a puddle so that it splashed onto Akira’s socks-- which had just managed to dry. “Don’t dish it if you can’t take it, Akira-kun,” she teased, snagging the umbrella as the now impatient boy became intensely focused on how gross his socks looked and felt against his bony ankles.

The curly haired boy looked up at her with a retort on the tip of his tongue, but a car stopping alongside the curb quickly caught his attention. Rain battered against the tinted windows, and one slid down just as Ann removed her hood. A middle aged man sat in the driver’s seat that Akira didn’t recognize, and for a split second he swore he saw nothing but fear cross Ann’s expression; pure and utter terror.

“Hey there,” the man said. Something in his voice sounded… slimy. “Sure is comin’ down hard right now, isn’t it? You’re both completely drenched, too.” He patted his car door, and Akira watched as Ann flinched and looked quickly at the sidewalk. “I could give you two a lift, if you’d like?”

The dark haired boy pushed his glasses up his nose, and he decided he would wait to see Ann’s response before he made any moves. She looked uncertain, and her grip was so tight around the umbrella that her knuckles were the color of snow. And the more Akira examined the situation, the more it seemed like this… man… was looking very directly for Ann’s response. It all seemed incredibly suspicious. And creepy.

“W-well--”

“I think we’ll be fine,” Akira quickly intervened, grabbing the umbrella from Ann and gently placing his hand on her closest shoulder. Waiting for her response, he decided, was a bad initial call. “The rain hasn’t really bothered us thus far. Besides, I personally enjoy the walk there. Gives me time to reflect.” He looked down at Ann’s shocked expression very pointedly. “Wouldn’t you agree, Ann-chan?”

The blue eyed girl paused for a moment, but seemed to quickly understand the situation. “U-uhm, yeah!” she put on her best cheery face and her cutest girly voice when responding, which only unnerved Akira further. “Especially in the rain. Gives me lots of time to think… about… evaporation..?”

Akira bit his tongue. She had ONE job.

The man hummed, seeming (understandably) doubtful. But he managed an indifferent shrug, starting his car up again. “Well, whatever floats your boat.” He gave a hardy laugh. “See ya in gym class, kids!” And with that said, the man drove away, and Akira could practically feel the tension ooze out of Ann the second the car was out of view.

“Who the hell was that?” he asked almost immediately, looking at Ann expectantly.

The girl before him, however, was not Ann. At least, not the one he knew. The Ann he knew was bubbly, carefree and a bit sassy; she never let anything get in her way and if she had a goal, she’d go above and beyond for it. But this girl, soaking wet from rain, just looked defeated. She looked empty and exhausted, like all the life had been physically drained from her with a fun-sucking vacuum. In fact, he was pretty sure she didn’t even hear him, which left him with two choices: press the issue but risk stepping on some hidden landmine, or not press the issue but risk being unable to fix some part of Ann that was horribly damaged.

Damn, he just made new friends, and he wasn’t even sure how to care for them.

He decided as he released Ann’s shoulder that the best course of action would be to take the most comfortable route he could: the funny one. “Dude, evaporation? Seriously?” he joked, giving her a gentle poke in the arm. “Pretty lame rainy day contemplation topic if you ask me.”

The twin-tailed beauty seemed to perk up a bit at the joke, a weak but visible smile forming across her lips. “Lay off, alright?” She managed a lackluster chuckle as the pair resumed their walk to school. “All I could think about was rain and I panicked; I guess my mind instinctively drifted back to middle school science?”

Akira scoffed in response. “Like you paid any attention in middle school.”

The snarky teen was quick to receive an elbow to the gut, and he let out a wheeze. But, fortunately, Ann began to genuinely laugh. “Sorry,” she apologized as she innocently clasped her hands together. “That was a bit more hard-hitting than I meant it to be.” She winked, and Akira held back a sigh of relief. She was back to normal. For now. But at some point or another, he was going to have to ask her who that guy was. The boy looked to the sidewalk in front of him as the school came into view. He recalled him saying something about gym class as he drove away, but that certainly didn’t help, as Akira had yet to attend a single gym class since his transfer to Shujin. With an inward groan, he realized that it might be best to just attend the damn class instead of trying to ask Ann and risk upsetting her.

Unless… Ryuji knew something?

 

 

“...and he had this creepy look on his face, you know?” Akira sat on top of an abandoned and rickety old desk as he looked up at the clouds, which had since the storm passed become white and fluffy; the sun was still nowhere in sight. The roof was the best place to both get lost in thought and get buried in explanation, and the dark haired teenager was doing the latter as his (tardy) friend Ryuji Sakamoto sat propped against the wall below him a bit to the left. “It wasn’t your typical creepy teacher look either. It was… predatory.” The boy pushed up his glasses, looking down at Ryuji. “He also mentioned that he teaches gym.”

The curly haired blonde frowned, picking a weed from a crack in the chipping roof pavement. “Sounds to me like you’re talkin’ ‘bout that good-for-nothin’ Kamoshida.” He crushed the weed between his fingers. “He was creepin’ on Ann, yeah? Sounds like him. He’s had his eye on her since we were first years.”

Now it was Akira’s turn to frown. “Kamoshida? As in, ex-Olympian Kamoshida?”

Ryuji winced at that, releasing an impatient sigh through gritted teeth. “Eeyup, that’s your guy,” he grumbled. “And believe me, he’ll never let ya hear the end of that Olympian bullshit. ‘You know, I was pretty good at volleyball back in MY time, so I think I know my stuff!’” a snarl began to form at the corner of Ryuji’s mouth. “As if that could help his rotten ass learn a damn thing ‘bout track.”

Akira’s interest piqued as the clouds began to part slightly in the sky, allowing a few sunny rays to shine down onto the roof and warm his back. “He coached track?” the pale teen questioned slowly. “Ryuji-kun, you used to run track, right? What was your experience with him like?” The moment Akira finished, Ryuji’s expression grew very grim and uncharacteristically sad. The clouds quickly hid the sun again, and a breeze caused both boys to shiver. Akira looked for an out. “Actually, nevermind that. Why were you so late today?” he backtracked as quickly as possible.

“Oh,” Ryuji’s eyes suddenly grew wide, and his hand reflexively flew up to the back of his neck. “Yeah, well, ya see, I got this great new game--” the teen stopped once he looked up and noticed the cold stare Akira was giving him, deciding to make something up instead. “I mean, uh, I was… feelin’ under the weather?”

The grey eyed teenager could clearly see through his friend’s unconvincing cover up story, as any human with ears and a couple brain cells would. But now, if Ann asked about it later, he wouldn’t technically be lying if he repeated back what he had just heard. It was a classic way of lying without lying, and Akira had gotten quite good at it over the past month. But in any case, the clouds began to darken, and it seemed like it was going to rain again very soon. He hopped off the desk, ignoring the very loud creaks (it was only a matter of time before he broke one) it made, and offered a hand to Ryuji.

While exhaling a grateful: “Thanks, dude.” the brown eyed boy took hold of Akira’s hand and hoisted himself up to his feet, giving his companion a hard pat on the shoulder as a thank you. The receiver of said shoulder slap stumbled to the side a bit, clutching the desk for support. He shot a glare at Ryuji, who snorted, but it quickly fell once he saw him smiling. It never failed: Ryuji had a smile that could cure freaking cancer. When he and Ann were both smiling, it was all Akira could do to keep from going into cardiac arrest. They’re quite the killer combo, it seemed.

Just then, the rooftop door swung open, creaking louder than one of the rickety desks before clicking back shut. Akira began to raise his hand in greeting, expecting Ann to have arrived now that gym class would be over.

“Prez?!”

Ryuji’s holler of surprise startled the boy with glasses enough into quickly turning around, his shoulders tensing. It seemed his friend’s identification skills were still half decent: a slender girl with short brown hair and striking red eyes stood just in front of the doorway, her arms crossed and her foot tapping. Yep, that was an irritated student body president. And they were the two delinquents caught skipping class and hanging out on the roof. Whoops.

“This area is off limits to students, you know,” she sighed, seeming a mixture of uninterested and irritated. “Besides, you should both be in class. Especially you, Kurusu-kun. The last thing you need is to be reported to Principal Kobayakawa.”

Akira shoved his hands in his pants pockets, holding back a smirk of amusement. Sure, getting busted was less than ideal, but he could at least get some more fun out of it, right? “Does that mean you’re going to report us, Miss Makoto Nijima-san?” he asked coyly, leaning against the nearby railing. “And I told you last time we spoke: call me Akira-kun.”

Makoto furrowed her brow and looked at the ground speedily, but Akira’s keen eye caught the little smirk that was playing across her lips. Unfortunately, her recovery was swift, and she looked back up to lock eyes with her current verbal rival. “I won’t report you this time, but of course I cannot allow this behavior to slide for long.” She slowly advanced toward Akira, her expression bold. “It would set a bad example for the other students.”

Akira shrugged nonchalantly. “I suppose it would be less of an issue if you just… checked the roof less often?”

“Mm, yes, that would mean I technically was not seeing you disobey school rules,” Makoto agreed, stopping about a foot away from the second year student. “But why on Earth would I break my protocol for you, Kurusu-kun?”

As the first drop of a new rain shower hit the pavement, Akira pushed his glasses up and removed his hands from his pockets, opting to cross his arms like the third year before him instead; a bit of teasing mockery, supposedly. He grinned smugly, because he knew what he was about to say was objectively going to win this play argument. “Because you still owe me for that incident in the library, Nijima-san.”

Unexpectedly-- at least for Ryuji, who was watching all the events unfolding before him with a gaping jack and limp arms-- Makoto’s face slowly interchanged from it’s usual colour to pink to salmon to bright tomato red, her arms tightening their grip around each other and her eyes clamping shut. “H-hey, you swore it would be a secret between us!”

Bingo. “It will be,” Akira cooed reassuringly. “I never plan on telling a soul. However, you did agree that in exchange for my silence, you owed me one favor. Well I’d say you keeping my little roof gatherings under wraps is all I really need.” Despite how antisocial and uncharismatic he may have appeared at first glance, the pale teenager was not only extremely good at reading people, but he was also good at getting things done. Though he did feel a little bad for toying with Makoto, that “incident” in the library had been totally her fault! Besides, she was pretty cute when she blushed.

The short haired third year released an angry and defeated huff as she tucked her hair behind her ear, her blush slowly fading away as the sprinkle made her hair shine slightly. Akira had to admit: she was pretty attractive. “Fine.” she agreed curtly. The dark haired boy frowned at this. Perhaps he went too far.

“Mm,” he hummed thoughtfully. Suddenly, an idea popped into his head. Makoto Nijima, student body president? Of course! She would most certainly know more about Kamoshida, and he could question her without her getting too upset… at least he hoped. “Furthermore, what are your plans later this evening?”

Makoto blinked at that, but kept her composure. “Depends on the purpose of you asking such a… sudden question,” she shot back. “After all, I am pretty busy.”

“Of course,” Akira decided to tread lightly this time around, but couldn’t figure out exactly what to tell her. He couldn’t say it outright, lest he upset Ryuji. He also risked scaring her away if he lied and suggested something as brash as a date-- although he wouldn’t be opposed to that. Come to think of it, a date was probably the best option, but how to go about saying it without sounding like a creep was another story. Well, guess he would have to wing it. “But if you could take some time out of your busy schedule to come to the cafe I work at, I wouldn’t mind… discussing things with you, and learning your viewpoint on them. From a casual perspective.” Christ, could he have sounded more awkward? Though, maybe that was a good thing; it would make her feel like she had the upper hand.

One brown eyebrow raised inquisitively, and Makoto’s hands were on her hips. “Kurusu-kun, not to come off as bold or anything, but… are you asking me on a date?” Ah, so she did think she had the upper hand.

“Something of that nature, yes,” he agreed quickly.

A small smile formed on the president’s lips, but whether it was genuine happiness or smugness Akira couldn’t decipher. “Well, I suppose I could clear my schedule, then,” she agreed, her shoulders slacking as she turned and began to head back to the doorway. “Don’t tell anyone, though. After all, it wouldn’t be good for the president’s reputation if she was overheard sneaking around with the delinquent, now would it be?”

Akira shrugged his shoulders, already knowing he’d accomplished what he set out to do. “Careful there, prez,” he shot back. “Don’t forget what happened last time you accused me of being a delinquent.”

Makoto froze abruptly, quickly whipping around and clenching her fists. “Y-you said you wouldn’t say anything!” she shouted flusteredly.

Akira snickered, grabbing Ryuji’s shoulder and seemingly sparking the life back into him. “No worries, the only other person here is Ryuji, and he won’t tell a soul.” He gave his blonde friend a pleading look. “Right pal?”

Ryuji blinked, gulping. “R-right! I ain’t gonna tell nobody, I swear,” he stammered out, clearly struggling. He was probably going to tell Ann, but she could keep a secret, so as long as he didn’t tell anyone else then the roof was their new safe haven… and a good place to hide when Akira skipped gym class.

“I see.” Makoto seemed to untense so much that Akira thought she might melt. “Well then, I guess I’ll see you tonight. A cafe, you said?”

He nodded. “It’s called Leblanc. I’ll be getting off my shift by the time you arrive, but it’s a good, quiet spot. It’s… atmospheric.” Holy shit, Akira. Stop talking.

“...I see,” Makoto repeated, chuckling this time around. Perhaps she found his lack of vocabulary to be charming. “Does eight sound okay? I would come earlier, but as I’m clearing my schedule for this I’d like to get some homework done before I arrive.”

“Whatever works for you.”

“Alright. In that case, see you tonight.”

“Yeah, you too.”

And with that, Makoto was through the door, her steps echoing until the door closed. With the rain picking up, Akira and Ryuji should have been heading inside too, but the darker haired boy didn’t want to seem like he was trailing her. He needed to know more about Kamoshida, so the last thing he wanted to do was creep her out. He cast a glance at Ryuji, who was still bug eyed and dazed. A small smile played across Akira’s lips. His new friends were a bunch of goofballs.

“Duuuude…” Ryuji whistled, throwing his arm around Akira’s neck and ruffling his already messy hair. “You managed to get a date with Nijima-san! The student body president!” he exclaimed, eyes sparkling like a child’s after they’d been told that they could go to Disneyland. “How’d ya manage to do that?! You’re so smooth with ladies! Can you teach me stuff ‘bout flirtin’?!”

As he babbled on, Akira broke free of his friend’s clutches and ruffled his hair a bit-- not that it made much difference. He adjusted his crooked glasses and shrugged. “I mean, I wouldn’t say I’m particularly outstanding with girls.” Lies. He knew he had a way with words when it came to anyone, not just girls.

“Don’t be so humble, bro.” The blonde haired boy smacked his friend on the shoulder so hard that he stumbled-- again-- only to be caught by the forearm by his starry eyed companion. “The way ya talked to her, I would’ve assumed the two of ya were already datin’ if I didn’t know otherwise.”

“You sound a bit surprised,” Akira pointed out as he gestured for Ryuji to follow him to the doors now that the coast was clear.

The not-so-delinquent tensed at that as he followed Akira inside, the door shutting behind them just as the rain turned to downpour again. “Well, I am, I ‘spose…” he began timidly, his face turning just the slightest bit pink. “I guess it’s ‘cus I kinda assumed that you were… t-that you had more, uh, interest in the uh…”

The bespectacled student quickly picked up on what Ryuji was trying to say, and he couldn’t help but let out a few soft laughs. “You thought I was gay?” he questioned, grasping the railing as the two walked slowly down the stairs. They were certainly in no hurry to go back to their classes, especially when wet. When Ryuji didn’t respond, Akira let out a thoughtful sigh. “I can see where you would pick up on that. You’re more observant than you give yourself credit for, Ryuji-kun.”

With even bigger eyes than before, the former athlete grabbed his new friend’s shoulder, stopping them both mid step. “Wait, so you are gay?!” he shouted in disbelief. “Then why the hell’d ya ask the prez on a date?!”

Akira pressed a finger to his lips, shushing the unreasonably loud Ryuji, before launching into explanation. “No, I am not gay. But I am, in fact, attracted to guys. It just so happens that I’m also attracted to girls; especially girls like Nijima-san. Calm, cool and collected on the outside, but secretly very cute and flustered on the inside.” He crossed his arms, waiting for Ryuji’s reaction.

“So… you’re bi..?” the blonde asked hesitantly.

Akira thought on this for a moment too, as he’d never really thought about that much himself. He looked at the ceiling and hummed for a few moments before deciding: “I don’t really know. I just like who I like-- I suppose it’s based more on personality than looks for me.”

Ryuji smiled, seeming oddly proud as he placed his hands on his hips. “That’s actually pretty sick, dude,” he exclaimed, chuckling a bit. “Man, you are so much cooler than you look on the outside!”

“Thank you?”

“No problem, dude!” Ryuji continued down the stairs and Akira followed, knowing that his friend had no idea how backhanded that compliment was just then. Ryuji suddenly peeked over his shoulder, locking eyes with stoic grey ones. “So, would ya ever fall for me, then?” he asked, the teasing in his tone evident.

Akira pretended to think hard, rubbing his chin and making the most obnoxious thought processing noises he could muster before meeting his friend’s gaze head on and delivering the blunt finishing blow: “Not a chance, Ryuji-kun.”

The curly haired blonde stumbled down the last stair, fumbling a bit before managing to catch himself on the wall and prop himself steady. Akira snickered, crossing his arms. Fatality. Now all he had to do was make it through the last few non gym-related classes of the day and get back to Leblanc so he could sort out the kinds of questions he was going to ask Makoto, how he was going to go about asking them, and spend every leftover minute wondering whether or not he actually considered this a date.


End file.
